Your email and social media feeds are flooded with daily tips and guides on well-being and health. But you’ll rarely find information about quitting smoking. According to Cancer Research UK, about 207,000 children between ages 11 and 15 begin to smoke every year. What’s worse, children whose parents or siblings smoke are likelier to start smoking themselves. It’s a serious issue, with almost 15% of UK adults being smokers. However, technology is supporting people who want to stop smoking. Here’s a list of 4 ways tech advancements can help you quit smoking for good.
The Pivot App
The Pivot app is a tech innovation made by Carrot Inc, which offers a unique user experience. The app includes lessons, live coaching, and customized activities to suit any user’s desire to stop smoking. The app pairs with a mobile sensor, with incorporated Bluetooth, which measures CO (Carbon monoxide) levels in your breath and shows your smartphone’s information. Carbon monoxide is one of the toxins in cigarettes. It exits your body quickly, so if you smoke a cigarette, you’ll notice the numbers increase on the app. If you skip a cigarette, these numbers will fall. The app provides a real-time and motivating feedback loop.
Quitter’s Circle App
The “Quitter’s Circle” app allows you to follow a customized plan with our smartphone’s help. You can easily download the app and invite your friends and family to support you in your journey to quit smoking.
The app offers helpful insights and tips about quitting unhealthy habits and sends reminders about your Quit Date or your first visit to your doctor. Tracking performance and progress throughout your journey helps you stay in the game. You’ll see the number of days you’ve stayed cigarette-free and the savings you’ve reached. You’ll receive badges every time you hit a key milestone.
Also, because the urge to light up a cigarette only lasts between 3 and 5 minutes, you can play a fun game on your smartphone to divert your focus. The craving lasts this long whether you smoke or not. You’ll pass through it before you know it.
Telemedicine & Online Doctors
You can double your chances of stopping smoking with the help of a doctor who can provide counseling and medication. If you don’t have enough time to visit a doctor, you can leverage the power of telemedicine. Telemedicine allows you to book and attend virtual meetings with doctors from the comfort of your home whenever convenient. You can create customized plans to quit smoking and check which medications suit you. A counselor can also offer emotional support to sustain your endeavor.
Wearable Technology
Constant wearable-generated insights allow doctors to learn crucial details about the smoker’s emotional and physical state and discover smoking patterns. Wearable technology can provide information about the number of cigarettes you smoke, the emotional triggers, and the locations you smoke. Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence can examine predictive analytics, which anticipates and helps you overcome the urge to smoke. A doctor who monitors and learns about your smoking habits can customize and adjust your medication and treatment. Automated remote monitoring also eliminates the hassle of self-reporting.
Summary
Smoking affects around 7.2 million people in the UK. Tech innovations that can help you quit smoking are developing and offering integrated solutions for doctors and patients. Many stop-smoking apps and wearable technologies can measure CO levels, skin temperature, and smokers’ emotional state. Coupled with machine learning and Artificial Intelligence, these technologies break any barriers between doctors and patients. Counselors and specialists can remotely monitor smoking patterns and behaviors to help patients quit this dangerous and unhealthy habit.
